Organic agriculture, understood as the set of tools and methodologies used by agri-food production, which meets strict quality requirements of the production chains and of the agricultural products so obtained, cannot disregard the need to demonstrate objectively and continuously that such requirements have been met throughout the whole life cycle of the “organic product.”
“Organic product”, in accordance with the present invention, means and includes any product of plant, animal or fish origin that is used for human food and that is produced in a way that complies with official standards set by national governments and international organizations. Marketing food with the “organic” label is, in fact, regulated by governmental food safety authorities, such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) or European Commission.
In particular, by organic fish product we shall mean the product of fish farming in ponds, lakes or sea areas in “bays” (e.g “fjords” type), in which it is possible to place the device according to the invention on the ground and the water extraction pipes into the sea/lake/ponds.
It is apparent that, by means of appropriate technical modifications well known to the skilled in the art, it is possible to adapt the system according to the invention for use within “fences” in the open sea, within which the breeding of fish is carried out. This latter aspect is not to be underestimated, because, while it is very easy to make extractions on land or breeding ground fences, it is very difficult to control the type of “feedstuff” that is administered to fish in the sea.
Normally, the control tests on farm land, on a farming system or on the feedstuff used, are applied randomly by making sample extractions and performing the analysis on the samples themselves.
Furthermore, producers may also self-certify the quality of their production systems. These two methods give rise to different problems, in fact, on one side, the sample control is meaningful for the public, only if there is a negative result and, on the other side, the self-certification is not usually perceived as credible by consumers or consumers' associations. The device in accordance with the present invention overcomes these “technical problems.”